IJBFC Chat - April 19, 2015
(Name of message originator above the timestamp)
Laura Leff joined the room
Steve Archer joined the
room
Steve Archer
2:01 PM
Hey Laura
Laura Leff
2:02 PM
Hey Steve
How's life up north?
Steve Archer
2:02 PM
Great - it's been a
bennyriffic weekend, just saw Joan at REPS and plenty of others
Marc Thorner joined the
room
Laura Leff
2:03 PM
Oh, I didn't even realize
that REPS was this weekend. Duh.
Steve Archer
2:03 PM
How are you?!
Your name was invoked many
times.
especially at Joan's panel
- "Laura would know that"
Hi Marc
Laura Leff
2:03 PM
LOL...
Hi Marc!
Marc Thorner
2:04 PM
Hello!!
Steve Archer
2:04 PM
Are you someone we know by
another name?
Now that we have the real
names thing going on.
Marc Thorner
2:04 PM
no.. just me
Laura Leff
2:04 PM
I wonder if I ticked off
someone at REPS. None of them ever let me know what was going
on. And I've been too busy with too many other things to keep an
eye on them.
Hey Hookie
R. Hookie
2:04 PM
Hi folks
Steve Archer
2:05 PM
I didn't know either till I
heard an ad with Joan on the radio!
I just found out like a
week ago. I haven't been involved with REPS before.
Anyway I met (and drank)
with Joe Kearns' cousin, that was fun.
Beverly Washburn is the
loveliest person ever and says to say hello
Laura Leff
2:05 PM
Cool!
Yes, she's delightful!
Did she have on her St.
Christopher medal?
Steve Archer
2:06 PM
I spoke to her for about
five seconds before I was getting hugs!
Both she and Gloria
McMillan!
I didn't notice the medal
Laura Leff
2:07 PM
She has half a St.
Christopher that Jack gave her. She often wears it to things like
this.
Congratulations, you have
now been hugged by a Beverly Hills Beaver and Margaret Truman at the same time.
Steve Archer
2:07 PM
LOL
Laura Leff
2:08 PM
So how was the
weekend? What did they do, and what did they talk about?
Hey Ed!
R. Hookie
2:08 PM
Hi Ed
Steve Archer
2:08 PM
There were a couple of
beavers there. Stuffy Singer and Tommy Cook...Cook was a beaver
too, right?
Laura Leff
2:08 PM
I don't think
so. He was a child actor, but I'm pretty sure he was never a Beaver
IIRC.
Steve Archer
2:09 PM
OK, might have that one
confused. He's a character.
Laura Leff
2:09 PM
Hey hey! Brad
made it in!
R. Hookie
2:09 PM
Hi Brad!
Laura Leff
2:09 PM
Oh yeah...met him about 12
years ago at a convention.
Brad from Georgia
2:09 PM
I finally made it. Had to
go out and change my browser.
Steve Archer
2:09 PM
Joan's panel was
nice. She did one on Friday too where she commented on clips from
TB or NTB but I had to work on Friday.
ed kienzler
2:09 PM
Hi guys...l have lots of
time now...crushed left foot from hit and run
Steve Archer
2:09 PM
Yikes Ed!
Hi Brad!
Laura Leff
2:09 PM
OUCH!
Brad from Georgia
2:09 PM
Hi, Steve!
ed kienzler
2:09 PM
Brad hi...
Steve Archer
2:10 PM
I am talking about
REPS. I literally saw Joan three hours ago.
Brad from Georgia
2:10 PM
Ed, howdy.
R. Hookie
2:10 PM
Ouch for sure
Brad from Georgia
2:10 PM
Wonderful!
Laura Leff
2:10 PM
Did you get a chance to
talk with Joan directly?
ed kienzler
2:10 PM
Been a long time Brad...
Steve Archer
2:10 PM
Just really briefly Laura.
Brad from Georgia
2:10 PM
Sorry for your injury, ed!
ed kienzler
2:10 PM
Thanks...
Steve Archer
2:10 PM
She signed my copy of SNAS,
we talked a bit about you but had to move on.
Laura Leff
2:11 PM
Oh funny. Hope
she said nice things.
Steve Archer
2:11 PM
Joan seemed a bit more
reserve and less "mingly" than some of the others.
reserved
Brad from Georgia
2:11 PM
When I talked to Joan for
the Eddie Carroll book, she was nice as could be, but for most of my questions
she'd say, "
Laura Leff would know about
that...."
Laura Leff
2:11 PM
I love it.
Steve Archer
2:11 PM
Yeah, she's in an
interesting position because everyone wants to know about the show but she
really knows more about "dad".
Still charming and pleasant
as can be.
Laura Leff
2:12 PM
Exactly. She
and I probably talk more about music than we do about her father.
Steve Archer
2:12 PM
She did talk about the new
foundation and the pistachio farm profits leading to it.
Brad from Georgia
2:12 PM
Best thing she said to me:
"If you saw the Jack Benny show, you saw Dad. He was just the same at home
as on the show, just a nice, sweet man."
Laura Leff
2:12 PM
Yepper. I'm
going to put a blurb on that in the newsletter today.
Steve Archer
2:13 PM
Really a nice thing.
Brad from Georgia
2:13 PM
Somehow I hear John C.L.
Slivoney advertising pistachios....
Laura Leff
2:13 PM
Just shows you how
Wonderful those pistachios can be!
So who listened to the show
for this month?
Brad from Georgia
2:13 PM
I did!
Steve Archer
2:13 PM
I did too.
R. Hookie
2:14 PM
I did twice
Brad from Georgia
2:14 PM
Were the sound problems in
it for everyone? I got a long period of silence, then a stuttering effect for
awhile on one of Phil's lines.
Laura Leff
2:14 PM
Yay! I had the
show for last month, but then no one listened to it. So I figured
I'd just hold it over. Was still a good chat.
Steve Archer
2:14 PM
Yes, same here Brad
Laura Leff
2:14 PM
Brad - Yep, that's on the
mp3.
R. Hookie
2:14 PM
Not exactly proper English
Brad from Georgia
2:14 PM
Well, it was an old show...
Laura Leff
2:14 PM
I think someone did a bad
transfer from the disc.
Brad from Georgia
2:14 PM
Hiya, Hookie@
R. Hookie
2:14 PM
Hi again Brad
Brad from Georgia
2:14 PM
That was sposed to be a
hexclamaiton mark.
Laura Leff
2:15 PM
This is really the first
time you get to see a trace of Phil's character.
R. Hookie
2:15 PM
I thought you turned me
into a email address
Brad from Georgia
2:15 PM
Phil had an interesting
blackface voice.
Laura Leff
2:15 PM
His "Righto!"
response was about the extent of his involvement to that
point. Very subdued.
Steve Archer
2:16 PM
Don't know how to feel
about Jack and Co doing the dialect.
It takes a lot to push my
"offended" button and I can contextualize it historically but still a
few winces there.
Laura Leff
2:16 PM
That's part of the reason I
wanted to discuss it. When you think about it in 1936 terms, it was
fine. But is it worse than things that other people point to as
"racist," like the Si-Sy routine.
Brad from Georgia
2:17 PM
It bothered me a little,
but then we have to look at it in the context of the times, I suppose. I did
graduate work on the writings of Joel Chandler Harris, and a good many black
scholars I talked to felt torn--the dialect was accurate, but they felt it was
demeaning.
R. Hookie
2:17 PM
Now I thought Si Sy was
funny
ed kienzler
2:17 PM
It has always been funny
Steve Archer
2:18 PM
Even in 1936 terms...the
stuff like "I didn't wash my face all week",
Brad from Georgia
2:18 PM
It seemed to me that Jack
and the gang mostly did the bit as an affectionate look at minstrel shows. Bear
in mind that some minstrel shows were all white, but more than half were either
integrated or all-black.
Laura Leff
2:18 PM
Having heard the auditions
for the Rochester spin-off and hearing the AA actors speaking
"straight" as they introduce themselves, and then go into dialect for
reading the script...that was a challenge.
R. Hookie
2:18 PM
That material wouldn't fly
today
Steve Archer
2:18 PM
I think just labeling
something as "racist" is not super helpful, it's like an on-off switch
and you can't think about it after it has that label.
Laura Leff
2:19 PM
It's subjective...kind of
like the comment about pornography ("I know it when I see it.").
ed kienzler
2:19 PM
Steve true
Steve Archer
2:19 PM
So you need to-- at least
*I* need to --- acknowledge the "wrong" aspects of it then dive in and
see what does and doesn't have value otherwise.
Brad from Georgia
2:19 PM
Some of the dialect (not to
mention a certain tenor) was WAY overdone, I thought. That sort of made me
uncomfortable.
Laura Leff
2:19 PM
I've had people tell me
that they don't think Jack's programs get more airplay today because of
Rochester, Si-Sy, etc.
Heah I come!
R. Hookie
2:20 PM
I was offended by Don
dressed as Jell-o
Steve Archer
2:20 PM
Speaking of which - Joan at
the panel yesterday briefly addressed this when a question came up about
"Rochester"
Laura Leff
2:20 PM
Why does no one ever
complain about Professor Le Blanc being racist?
Brad from Georgia
2:21 PM
It's really interesting to
look at this program, then the very early Rochester programs, then the post-war
ones. Jack's sensibilities on the issue evolved toward a much more enlightened
stance.
Steve Archer
2:21 PM
Well, that's more
"ethnic" than "racial"
Brad from Georgia
2:21 PM
Besides, "Blanc"
is French.....
Laura Leff
2:21 PM
I don't know if it's so
much Jack's sensibilities, or what they could get past their Southern stations.
Brad from Georgia
2:21 PM
'Course it does mean
"White," so there you go.
Laura Leff
2:21 PM
Steve - What's the
difference?
Steve Archer
2:22 PM
Well, the French aren't
considered a "race" like "Caucasians"
ed kienzler
2:22 PM
Originally spelled Blank...
Laura Leff
2:22 PM
If you think of Henry
Armetta, is he ethnic or racist?
Steve Archer
2:22 PM
I don't know who that is
Laura Leff
2:22 PM
Stereotypical Italian
comedian.
Brad from Georgia
2:22 PM
Like the time Jack and
Rochester were sparring and Rochester knocked him down. They got complaints from
the South about that...but Jack essentially said, "Forget 'em, it's a funny
bit."
ed kienzler
2:22 PM
Or j Carroll naish
Brad from Georgia
2:23 PM
Or Chico Marx.
Steve Archer
2:23 PM
Basically back in the 19th
century you were a Negroid, a Caucasoid or a Mongoloid to use the old awful
terms.
Laura Leff
2:23 PM
Mongoloid meaning an Asian?
Brad from Georgia
2:23 PM
Or a Native American.
Steve Archer
2:23 PM
and "science"
believed those categories had some validity other than just clinal variation of
human traits.
Brad from Georgia
2:23 PM
Meant both, actually.
Laura Leff
2:23 PM
Hey, Hitler agreed with
that. Not that I agree with Hitler.
Brad from Georgia
2:24 PM
Hitler added one: Aryan.
Based on no science.
Steve Archer
2:24 PM
Right...thus why
"French" doesn't have the loaded history as a "race" that
"Negro" does.
ed kienzler
2:24 PM
I don't either
Laura Leff
2:25 PM
Know I've talked about this
previously, but I've gotten complaints from people on John L.C. Silvoney.
Brad from Georgia
2:25 PM
Mark Twain: "God
created Man a little lower than the angels, and he's been getting lower ever
since. Today he stands somewhere between the angels and the French."
ed kienzler
2:25 PM
Good quote
Brad from Georgia
2:25 PM
Well, Slivoney is so
obviously a dig at the Irish.
I kid.
Laura Leff
2:26 PM
People claim he makes fun
of alcoholics (maybe they're thinking of him on the Gleason show in Joe's Bar)
and others claim he makes fun of people with cerebral palsy.
I can't think of anyone who
was making fun of people with cerebral palsy back then.
Marc Thorner
2:27 PM
really? i thought it was
drunks
Laura Leff
2:27 PM
I get questions about
Kitzel, but people complain about Silvoney. It's odd.
ed kienzler
2:27 PM
Those times were different
then
Brad from Georgia
2:27 PM
I recall Benny on the
Johnny Carson show, when Carson asked, "Didn't you change your name when
you went into show business? Wasn't it Kubelsky?" And Jack said,
"Well, actually my father changed it. It used to be O'Kubelsky. We came
from Ireland, you know."
Laura Leff
2:27 PM
Does anyone complain about
the people in Allen's Alley?
Steve Archer
2:28 PM
I don't think Silvoney, or
obviously Rochester, is hateful, but there are certain aspects of each that you
certainly couldn't do today.
Brad from Georgia
2:28 PM
Marc, I was kidding about
Slivoney.
Laura Leff
2:28 PM
Brad - Oh that's funny.
Steve Archer
2:29 PM
About modern
"complaints" - there's a bit of "what's the point" to it....
Brad from Georgia
2:29 PM
Benny was riffing on his
own show: "Mr. Kitzel, I had no idea you were Irish!" Kitzel:
"Just on my mother's side. Full-blooded, I'm not."
Steve Archer
2:29 PM
I mean, who's worried about
Mrs. Nussbaum's stereotype influence on society today. No one even
knows who Fred Allen is anymore.
Laura Leff
2:29 PM
I just find it interesting
that everyone needs to "classify" the question of "what is
wrong/unusual about Silvoney?" Why can't he just be funny?
Actually, I think I've
heard complaints about Foghorn Leghorn, who's ripped off from Senator Claghorn.
Marc Thorner
2:30 PM
exactly
Laura Leff
2:30 PM
And Parker Fennelly was
doing his New England thing for Pepperidge Farm into the 80s.
Marc Thorner
2:30 PM
yes!!
Brad from Georgia
2:30 PM
For me the one thing that
saves it--thanks, Laura, that's about what I was going to say--is that in the
era of the show, America was one big nation of people from everywhere. Yes,
people laughed at stereotypes, but my gosh, EVERYONE was a stereotype--a New
Yorker, a Southerner, a Midwesterner, as well as Scots, German, etc.
Laura Leff
2:31 PM
Well said.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley joined
the room
ed kienzler
2:31 PM
The network censors were
easy in those days on ethnics
Laura Leff
2:31 PM
Hey Kathy!
Steve Archer
2:31 PM
Well - re: Silvoney, he's
kind of a dumb guy with a speech impediment which I think -together- is the
crux.
Hi Kathy
R. Hookie
2:31 PM
Hi Kathy
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:31 PM
Hello Laura and everybody,
interested to see what you are talking about today
Brad from Georgia
2:31 PM
I don't think I've ever
heard anyone say "Garrison Keillor is such a racist, the way he makes fun
of those poor Norwegian bachelor farmers!"
Laura Leff
2:31 PM
Jack Benny and racism
(inspired by the show for today).
Brad from Georgia
2:32 PM
Hi, Kathy.
ed kienzler
2:32 PM
Hi Kathy
R. Hookie
2:32 PM
I need to step aside a
moment, the dog wants me...
Laura Leff
2:32 PM
Hi Penny.
Steve Archer
2:32 PM
I mean, if Gracie Allen
talked like Geri Jewell but didn't actually have CP, you could see the issue.
Brad from Georgia
2:32 PM
Dogs can be very needy.
ed kienzler
2:32 PM
Come back Brad
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:32 PM
well, I very much agree
with you folks that atttitudes about racial and ethnic stereotypes were very
different back in the day
Laura Leff
2:32 PM
Steve - That's an
interesting point.
Brad from Georgia
2:33 PM
I've never been away. My
dogs are upstairs.
Laura Leff
2:33 PM
It's Hookie's dog, Penny,
who's interrupting.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:33 PM
so we have to do a lot of
"mea culpas" to bring it up. Understanding the historical context
helps a lot
Brad from Georgia
2:33 PM
Once upon a time every
cartoon character had to have some kind of speech impediment OR sound like a
movie star.
Laura Leff
2:33 PM
I'm remembering one of
Eddie Anderson's very early appearances, before he was Rochester
R. Hookie
2:33 PM
She's out now, but not for
long... it's 56 deg here
Laura Leff
2:33 PM
Pete Puma is Silvoney
Brad from Georgia
2:34 PM
Sure is.
Laura Leff
2:34 PM
Where he's supposedly
playing a French waiter, but still doing it without a French accent.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:34 PM
you are RIGHT Brad, Harry
Conn even admitted so, in a letter from him to Jack. Its the most easily
recognizable difference
I think of it as
"aural slapstick" as opposed to Keystone Kops physical slapstick
Laura Leff
2:35 PM
Haven't heard it in a
while, but there's some kind of song about Jell-O, and Anderson calls out
"Make mine watermelon!" I could never hear it without
wincing.
R. Hookie
2:35 PM
Popeye's speech impediment
Laura Leff
2:35 PM
Yeah, is Popeye racist?
Steve Archer
2:35 PM
Are people with missing
eyes a race?
R. Hookie
2:35 PM
if he took that pipe out of
his mouth
Laura Leff
2:35 PM
Is Bugs Bunny a racist
stereotype of people from Brooklyn?
Brad from Georgia
2:35 PM
Well, there's Mr. Geezle,
who is a stereotypical Jewish pedlar-type.
R. Hookie
2:36 PM
I thought he was Bronx
Laura Leff
2:36 PM
It's sad that Charlie Chan
can't get airplay any more.
Brad from Georgia
2:36 PM
Bugs is a mixture of
Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to Mel Blanc's autobiography. "The two
toughest-sounding dialects."
Laura Leff
2:36 PM
South Bronx
Marc Thorner
2:36 PM
but you can buy the nice
box set of Charlie Chan movies
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:36 PM
stereotypes are the very
basis of humor, exploring our differences to play with incongruity, and (sadly)
superiority.
Steve Archer
2:37 PM
I think there's a BIG old
continuum between sterotype - negative stereotype - ignorantly racist
- and cross-burning/sheet-wearing
Laura Leff
2:37 PM
Right. Other
people are superior to Jack because he's cheap, or they're classier than him (Colmans),
etc.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:37 PM
I agree, Steve
Brad from Georgia
2:37 PM
I think that the key is
celebrating the differences, not being negative about them.
ed kienzler
2:37 PM
Agreed Brad
Laura Leff
2:37 PM
And laughing at
them. Like Dennis Day being a silly kid.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:37 PM
I think that's a lot
healthier and happier, Brad : )
Laura Leff
2:37 PM
Or Phil Harris being
bragadocious.
Vive la difference.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:38 PM
I am hoping that if our
culture is so sensitive to this today, that in 10-20 years we will have learned
something and get past it. Such a dreamer I am
Steve Archer
2:38 PM
I don't think there's a
moment on the Benny show that ever flipped to the truly racist side of the
teeter-totter.
ed kienzler
2:38 PM
Phil Harris is what
Laura???
Laura Leff
2:38 PM
So what else on the show
for this month? Do we want to debate the old Kenny vs. Dennis
question?
R. Hookie
2:38 PM
Pro-Denny
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:39 PM
guiltily I admit that Kenny
was a better singer, and got classic showtunes to sing many times. I get so
tired of the Irish songs haha
Laura Leff
2:39 PM
Ed - Bragadocious...overly
loud and bragging.
Brad from Georgia
2:39 PM
Coming from Georgia, which
I do, I'm very fond of collard greens, black-eyed peas, and yes, watermelon. I
was in an Atlanta restaurant ordering a meal--the server was
African-American--and I asked, "Do you put sugar in the collards?" she
indignantly said, "No, we don't!" "Then bring me a bowl," I
said. She laughed and said, "I thought you were a Yankee. They don't know
doodly about collards."
ed kienzler
2:39 PM
Thanks
Steve Archer
2:40 PM
Yeech who puts sugar in
collards?
ed kienzler
2:40 PM
Thanks
Brad from Georgia
2:40 PM
Evidently...damnyankees do.
Laura Leff
2:40 PM
Yes, why would you put
sugar in collards...
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:40 PM
the same folks who put
sugar in grits. I saw terrible things done by Yankees in Atlanta
Marc Thorner
2:40 PM
i never knew this
Steve Archer
2:40 PM
I thankfully never had
collards with sugar in them. So much pork you couldn't see the
green, but that's just about proper.
Laura Leff
2:40 PM
Southerners put sugar in
tea.
Brad from Georgia
2:40 PM
Some people do that to tone
down the bitterness, but I like the bitterness of collards. I cook delicious
collards myself, actually.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:40 PM
or tea in their sugar
Brad from Georgia
2:41 PM
Laura, sweet tea is tea in
its natural state.
Steve Archer
2:41 PM
I think I'm the only person
in Seattle who buys collards!
R. Hookie
2:41 PM
I put sugar on lefse
Laura Leff
2:41 PM
Brad - Define natural
state.
Marc Thorner
2:42 PM
(BTW, I come from
Brooklyn.. The Melting pot. If you can't make fun of yourself in the most dire
of situations. You also learn to take it as well as give it!!)
Laura Leff
2:42 PM
collards are also good
substitutes for the wrappers in stuffed cabage.
Brad from Georgia
2:42 PM
I purely love watermelon,
too. I understand that around 1900 it became a stereotypical racial
"marker" for bad jokes, though, and know why it can be so offensive.
That's true, Laura. I'm now
craving soul food.
Laura Leff
2:43 PM
I hear
that. And being in Oakland, I could get some excellent fare if I
wasn't cleansing today.
R. Hookie
2:43 PM
Stepping aside again
briefly
Laura Leff
2:43 PM
I agree that Kenny was a
better singer. Kind of unfortunate that he never did much after
Jack.
Brad from Georgia
2:44 PM
Turnip greens and pinto
beans...that's what I like about the South. My wife says I make better biscuits
and corn pone than she does.
Laura Leff
2:44 PM
Do you put sugar in your
cornbread?
Brad from Georgia
2:44 PM
I think Dennis was more
versatile and had a greater range in the acting department. Laura, perish the
very thought.
I HAVE been known to put
cracklings in it, but they're so fatty I have to lay off them.
Laura Leff
2:45 PM
Well, I do, and I use a
Paul Prudhomme recipe.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:45 PM
YES I agree Brad that
Dennis turned into a MUCH more nimble performer. I have heard Kenny on a Fred
Allen show when he joined Fred (1941?) and he is just annoying.
Laura Leff
2:45 PM
Thoughts on Mary's
character from this month's show? This predates her making the
change from girl-pest to, well...
Brad from Georgia
2:46 PM
Yep, that's N'Orleans
cornbread. It's okay, but I usually like the cornbread to have that nice flavor
that's set off so well with a dab of butter.
R. Hookie
2:46 PM
Is that the guy who looks
like Dom DeLuise?
Steve Archer
2:46 PM
Mary?
You're thinking of Babe
Laura Leff
2:46 PM
Hookie - Yep
Brad from Georgia
2:46 PM
Mary was just kind
of...there for me in this one.
R. Hookie
2:47 PM
I didn't think Mary really
stood out here
Steve Archer
2:47 PM
agreed
Laura Leff
2:47 PM
Does Mary stand out in any
of the 30s shows?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:47 PM
Its interesting to see how
much star publicity Mary was getting in 1936. The Press really made her out to
be Jack's partner.
Laura Leff
2:47 PM
Aside from Snow White and
the Seven Gangsters.
R. Hookie
2:47 PM
Good point Laura
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:47 PM
I like Mary in the Why
Girls leave home skits, she is cute and knowing
Laura Leff
2:47 PM
Kathy - She even got her
own movie about this time.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:48 PM
and its the ones we don't
have recordings of. I would have loved to hear her Mae West, which got lots of
comments in the newspapers
Laura Leff
2:48 PM
Oh, there are recordings of
that.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:48 PM
Laura do you have a copy of
This Way Please in the archive? I will have to order it
Laura Leff
2:48 PM
Yep, sure
do. Oh hey, what did you think of the first TV episode?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:49 PM
yeah, sometimes I forget
what I have heard vs read
Laura Leff
2:49 PM
I know exactly how that is.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:49 PM
OH WOW I loved the first TV
episode! It was much better than the script suggested, or reviewers. I was
struck by how very small the set was. And that bus was cardboard that Jack gets
off.
Laura Leff
2:49 PM
I don't think Mary's Mae
West is much different from mine. Or Paul Lynde's.
Ah, television in its
infancy.
Makes me think of Doctor
Who from the 70s.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:50 PM
You are right about the
standard Mae West imitation. Interesting to me that Mary's character was so
youthful and dumb, but she gets to play Mae
Brad from Georgia
2:50 PM
Me too. I got REALLY
excited earlier this week when I saw a book advertised on Kindle that indicated
someone had found a complete print of the lost Laurel and Hardy short "Hats
Off" in Cuba. Then when I started to order it, I read that it was a work of
fiction, a mystery with finding the film as the maguffin.
R. Hookie
2:50 PM
The Sportsmen sang quite
the intro there too
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:51 PM
Doh! Brad, now that sounds
like creativity, but a frustrated bait and switch as well
Brad from Georgia
2:51 PM
Yes, I was disappointed.
Laura Leff
2:51 PM
Kathy - Well, her dumb dora
character was also interested in men, so it's not that huge of a
stretch. She was silly but not necessarily virginal.
Although those 1932 scenes
of them flirting and falling in love are very sweet.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:52 PM
on the Oct 1950 TV episode,
looks like they were running short on time. The Rochester introduction was
SUPPOSED to be longer, with his face hidden by the window cleaning material and
he would rub himself a hole to bring him into view
I agree Laura, Mary wasn't
a 13 year old kid like the Portland Hoffa character.
Brad from Georgia
2:53 PM
Though Mary does a passable
Portland voice.
Laura Leff
2:53 PM
Yes. Portland
seemed pretty asexual, as was Fred.
Yes, and Jack does a pretty
good Allen imitation.
Steve Archer
2:53 PM
Hey Laura on another topic
- something that came up at REPS
Brad from Georgia
2:54 PM
Laura, how about the May 5
1940 episode next time? I think that's got one of the early take-offs on Fred
Allen's show.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:54 PM
and fun that when Jack had
to write his own emergency script in March 1936 that he made it a parody of Fred
Allen's talent show
Steve Archer
2:54 PM
Do you know of the
whereabouts of George Balzer's manuscript book on Jack? Joan and
many there were saying how much they'd like to read it.
Laura Leff
2:54 PM
Brad - Not the earliest
one, but I can do that.
Steve - I have
it.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:55 PM
oooooh, Laura, so what does
Balzer say?
Brad from Georgia
2:55 PM
I know--I SAID "one of
the early" ones, for heaven's sake. Nobody LISTENS to me....okay, I can't
do a good Benny voice even on a computer.
Steve Archer
2:55 PM
Super - they were saying
they were fearing it was lost.
Hopefully there's a
publishing outlet for it someday.
Laura Leff
2:55 PM
Nope. Got it.
I was waiting a bit to
approach the kids about the possibility of publishing it.
ed kienzler
2:55 PM
Sorry had get some
water...hard to do with a walker...
Brad from Georgia
2:55 PM
LL--I know a publisher who'
Laura Leff
2:55 PM
Thing is, that it needs a
really good editor. You can see that it's still pretty drafty.
Brad from Georgia
2:55 PM
who would take it sight
unseen...
Laura Leff
2:56 PM
I was thinking about
self-publishing it through the IJBFC.
Brad from Georgia
2:56 PM
And I have worked as a
professional editor. I could do it pro-bono. Or pro-Benny.
Steve Archer
2:56 PM
Laura, Brad - that would be
such a great thing!
Brad from Georgia
2:56 PM
And I can format books for
POD or epublishing, too.
Laura Leff
2:56 PM
I'm kind of torn about it,
because on one side, I think it's interesting to get George's stuff
unedited. You really see the pure voice that is his.
Brad from Georgia
2:56 PM
For a kid from the South,
that ain't bad.
Laura Leff
2:57 PM
But on the other hand, it
gets bogged down in spots and I confess that I haven't read the whole thing.
Steve Archer
2:57 PM
Well, a good editor should
be able to preserve the voice and tone and cut out the boggy
Brad from Georgia
2:57 PM
LL--there are ways and
ways. It's probably do-able. Maxwell Perkins said "Everybody can write one
good book."
Laura Leff
2:58 PM
True. Well,
let me see if the family is open to having it published.
Brad from Georgia
2:58 PM
Actually, he said ANYbody.
Laura Leff
2:59 PM
Just to drive you all nuts,
I think it would solve a mystery.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
2:59 PM
oh boy, I
love a mystery
Brad from Georgia
2:59 PM
Ah! We get to know who
Quentin was!
Steve Archer
2:59 PM
The mystery from Milt's
book?
Laura Leff
2:59 PM
That would make a good
radio show.
Brad from Georgia
2:59 PM
Nah, I know it's not that.
Laura Leff
2:59 PM
R. Hookie
2:59 PM
Is that your Shatner
impression?
Laura Leff
2:59 PM
Hookie - Good one.
Judy R joined the room
Brad from Georgia
3:00 PM
It's a subtle reference to
an old-time radio show about a team who loved a good mystery. And the title of
that show was... Gangbusters!
R. Hookie
3:00 PM
Judy!
Brad from Georgia
3:00 PM
Cary!
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:00 PM
maybe we could find out who
killed Carlton Quince
Steve Archer
3:00 PM
Hi Judy
Brad from Georgia
3:01 PM
Hi, Judy#
Laura Leff
3:01 PM
Hi Judy!
Brad from Georgia
3:01 PM
I cannoy find the ! on my
new keyboard.
Steve Archer
3:01 PM
or the t!
Brad from Georgia
3:01 PM
It is an ergonomic
keyboard. You find an erg, it'll nom it for you.
R. Hookie
3:01 PM
Do a percent sign next!
Brad from Georgia
3:01 PM
%
%
Laura Leff
3:01 PM
Hooray!
Brad from Georgia
3:01 PM
I can also do
"deformed rabbit."
Laura Leff
3:02 PM
Judy - We only just became
this crazy.
R. Hookie
3:02 PM
?
Steve Archer
3:02 PM
they don't put the
"cents" sign on the keyboard anymore. Darned inflation.
Laura Leff
3:02 PM
Oo...don't want to know
about deformed rabbit.
Brad from Georgia
3:02 PM
You can get the ASCII
character fo it, though.
Laura Leff
3:02 PM
That's because no one has
any cents any more.
Brad from Georgia
3:02 PM
It's a reference to the
late, dearly missed, Terry Pratchett, Laura.
R. Hookie
3:02 PM
rimshot
Steve Archer
3:02 PM
The people on my bus sure
have some scents though
Laura Leff
3:02 PM
Terry Pratchett died?
Brad from Georgia
3:02 PM
Yes, sadly
Laura Leff
3:02 PM
Awwwww
Brad from Georgia
3:03 PM
He was only 66.
He did NOT commit assisted
suicide, by the way. Natural causes.
Laura Leff
3:03 PM
Nuts. Well he
left us a heck of a library of stuff to enjoy.
Cancer?
Now Mort can do his job.
So what else Benny-wise is
on folks' minds tonight?
Steve - Any more news from
REPS?
Er...this
afternoon. I changed the time of the chat...
Brad from Georgia
3:04 PM
No, he had Alzheimer's, but
a peculiar variety that gradually robbed him of his ability to put names to
objects. He would know what a telephone was, but could not identify one by
sight. Anyway, he declined and died of pneumonia, I think it was.
Steve Archer
3:04 PM
Well, like I say, got to
meet Joe Kearns' cousin who lives in Seattle.
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Laura Leff
3:04 PM
Brad - My mother had that
affliction after her stroke. That's very sad.
Did he have any stories
about Cousin Joe?
Steve Archer
3:05 PM
We actually started talking
more about other stuff - he was more like an "uncle" to him though
technically a cousin.
Brad from Georgia
3:06 PM
I saw a 2013 interview with
Pratchett in which he was asked, "Do you mind being the poster boy for
dementia?" He said, "No, but I think I make it look good. I've had two
books on the best-seller lists here and in America since being diagnosed with
it."
Steve Archer
3:06 PM
I don't think anything
folks here don't know.
Joan's panel was fun, she
was mortified when they played tape of her subbing in reading Mary's lines.
Phil Curry joined the room
Brad from Georgia
3:06 PM
Aww....
Laura Leff
3:06 PM
For which show?
Hi Phil!
Brad from Georgia
3:06 PM
Hello, Phil!
Laura Leff
3:06 PM
They didn't play the
5/22/55 show, did they?
Judy R joined the room
Judy R joined the room
Phil Curry
3:06 PM
Finally got on..
R. Hookie
3:07 PM
Hi Phil
Steve Archer
3:07 PM
It was one of the last
season ones, not sure of the airdate - I don't think the very last show.
Laura Leff
3:07 PM
Because that's not her on
the last show. It's Jeanette Eymann.
That could be a reason she
looked mortified.
Steve Archer
3:07 PM
No, this was definitely
Joan, unmistakable.
Laura Leff
3:07 PM
Who moderated the panel?
Steve Archer
3:07 PM
They played some of her
earlier cameo bits from the show and same voice.
Laura Leff
3:08 PM
Got it.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:08 PM
so what is this gathering
REPS?
Steve Archer
3:08 PM
Larry and John Gassman
Laura Leff
3:08 PM
Oh, that's why I didn't
know anything about it.
Steve Archer
3:08 PM
Radio Enthusiasts of Puget
Sound.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:08 PM
well, that sounds great.
Local angle but national reach?
Steve Archer
3:09 PM
I take it there's a story
there...maybe not for the chat?
Laura Leff
3:09 PM
Definitely not.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:09 PM
I also don't know anything
about SPERDVAC, it has an annual gathering?
Steve Archer
3:09 PM
Other guests were Gloria
McMillan who is a super sweetheart, Terry Moore, Stuffy Singer, Beverly
Washburn, Tommy Cook
Laura Leff
3:09 PM
Kathy - That's an
interesting question.
Steve Archer
3:10 PM
I had breakfast today with
Tom Ritter (Son of Tex/brother of John) who is also super nice.
Laura Leff
3:10 PM
Who in the room can speak
to SPERDVAC?
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Laura Leff
3:10 PM
And minimize stepping on
the politics of the question.
Steve Archer
3:11 PM
Many Benny fans there of
course but no one I know particuarly from the club.
Judy R joined the room
Laura Leff
3:11 PM
Yes, get any group of old
radio fans together, and a lot of them will be Benny fans.
R. Hookie
3:11 PM
We're an elite group
Laura Leff
3:11 PM
Hey Judy...
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:11 PM
ah ha, information I can
find out another time : ) Intergroup
politics, sounds as bad as the dust-storms raised in faculty meetings
Laura Leff
3:12 PM
Judy - If you're looking to
speak in the room, type in the white box at the bottom of the screen next to the
paper clip image.
Brad from Georgia
3:12 PM
Faculty politics. A major
reason why I enjoy being retired.
Steve Archer
3:12 PM
Beverly was incredible in a
recreation of the play "Long Distance" - just full throttle old time
SUSPENSE type performance.
Laura Leff
3:12 PM
Well, here's my attempt at
a summary.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:12 PM
and I am envious, Brad!
haha I was at Georgia State for 10 years
Laura Leff
3:13 PM
There are two
factions. One wants to focus on the audio library, and not have a
convention. The other wants to focus more on gatherings.
So there has been a
struggle over many years of who's in charge, and whether they have a gathering
or not.
Brad from Georgia
3:13 PM
I was at Gainesville Junior
College/Gainesville College/Gainesviille State College/The University of North
Georgia for 28 years. That's one place, just four different names. I think the
institution owed somebody money they didn't want to pay back....
Laura Leff
3:13 PM
I think the group that does
gatherings is now in charge.
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:13 PM
sigh if they can't
cooperate for the common good. just like at school
that is a great school in
all its iterations, hard working faculty making a difference for its students
Phil Curry left the room
(user disconnected)
Laura Leff
3:14 PM
Yeah, you don't want to
hear the stuff that was discussed during the consumption of alcohol in the
hospitality rooms.
Steve Archer
3:14 PM
REPS was lovely but I have
to say the demographics would suggest it isn't going to be around for too many
more years.
Laura Leff
3:15 PM
That's
unfortunate. I was only there once, and it was a number of years
ago.
Did they do any radio
recreations?
Judy R joined the room
Laura Leff
3:15 PM
Speak to us, Judy!
Brad from Georgia
3:15 PM
Thanks, Kathy. We worked
our butts off for years--our president convinced the legislature that we could
get by on half the money of comparable schools!
R. Hookie
3:15 PM
Hi again Judy!
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:15 PM
ah HA, Laura. My good
friend in LA attended the most recent gathering and met Beverly Washburn there
and was very impressed with her kindness
Laura Leff
3:15 PM
There ya go.
She's a doll.
Steve Archer
3:16 PM
Yes - several, all very
good. No Jack Benny. I'm sorry that I couldn't attend
on Friday, they did an OUR MISS BROOKS with Gloria McMillan with her grandkids
playing Walter Denton and Stretch Snodgrass which would have been fun.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:16 PM
I mean my non-radio-fan
friend attended SPERDVAC, she says I ought to go when the book gets out....
Laura Leff
3:17 PM
Very much agreed.
Brad from Georgia
3:17 PM
Oh, the Atlanta Radio
Theatre Company talked to me earlier today about producing another one of my
scripts. We're about to produce my adaptation of TREASURE ISLAND (I'm to be Dr.
Livesy), and they want to do my affectionate parody of THE LONE RANGER for a
live audience if they can find the right venue.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:17 PM
so Laura, have you
assembled Benny fans together in the last few years?
Brad from Georgia
3:17 PM
Kathy, let her tell you
about Benny conventions....
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:17 PM
oh wow Brad, I am so sorry
I don't live in Atlanta any more, would love to hear you!
Laura Leff
3:17 PM
No...last time that we did
anything big was 2003. It's a big job.
Brad - Ha...
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:18 PM
oh you bet, my husband gets
involved in gatherings of old Volvo collectors (both ancient cars and aged
owners)
Brad from Georgia
3:18 PM
Kathy, the TREASURE ISLAND
will...eventually...be available on Audible.com.
We're just into rehearsal, and will record it next month.
Laura Leff
3:19 PM
Well, let's say this (and I
think some of you have heard this story previously). My ex-husband
and I agreed that if anyone at the convention asked, "When's the next
one?" we would say, "We'll have the next one when you agree to pay for
either a divorce or a funeral."
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:19 PM
there's a group here in
Austin, the Penfold Theater, did a fine version of "Miracle on 34th
street" as a radio play for their Christmas show
well, thank goodness for
virtual gatherings!! hahaha
Brad from Georgia
3:19 PM
I once stayed in a
bed-and-breakfast in Marshall, Michigan that happened to be hosting a
Rolls-Royce fanciers' group. The parking lot was worth more than every house my
family has ever owned all put together.
Laura Leff
3:19 PM
Happily now, I've already
paid for the divorce.
And come to think of
it...it would probably be a lot easier to pull together a convention without him
around being nasty behind the scenes.
Howevah...
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:20 PM
Rolls Royce owners are a
crazy breed of people, indeed! Volvos are cheap (sadly, as are
their owners)
Laura Leff
3:21 PM
I think back on so many of
the people we had on the panels, and they're dead.
And, of course, Eddie
Carroll is dead.
So it would be very hard to
pull together a weekend of activities centered around just Jack.
Of course, I'm open to
suggestions if anyone has ideas.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:22 PM
well, you never know what
the future can hold.
Laura Leff
3:22 PM
I'd have to time it so that
I can do it between contracts.
Steve Archer
3:23 PM
Well, perhaps there can be
a mini-event associated with something else sometime. Like a dinner
if there's ever something like another DVD release, that kind of thing.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:23 PM
good luck on that, Brad. At
least you'll be 5 pounds thinner when they are done : )
Laura Leff
3:23 PM
When I did it the first
time, my company was in decline and laying off people, so I didn't have much to
do and could handle doing a lot during the day.
Brad from Georgia
3:23 PM
What we need is an
educational institution that could put together a conference on radio humor,
focusing on Jack. Those guys can make anything dull.
ed kienzler left the room
(lost connection)
Laura Leff
3:23 PM
Yes, I have done some of
those when I've travelled for work.
Hm. I do have
a pretty good friend at Stanford....
Steve Archer
3:24 PM
If they do REPS again next
year and anyone comes up for it I would be happy to organize a Seattle area
Benny dinner.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:24 PM
oh you got it. Brad, But
indeed I am starting to work with profs who are doing radio history, and comedy
history, so let's see
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Laura Leff
3:24 PM
There ya
go. Maybe we can organize something around the release of the book.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:24 PM
woo hoo, indeed. now there
is something to look forward to : )
Judy R joined the room
Laura Leff
3:24 PM
So what else for discussion
this month?
Judy - Double-click on my
name if I can help you with anything. Your persistence, as always,
is impeccable!
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:25 PM
were you able to acquire
the Benny scripts from the ebay seller? Were they annotated?
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Brad from Georgia
3:25 PM
"....the trope of
stinginess played well to a nation accustomed by the Depression to living as
cheaply as possible, and Jack Benny exemplified what I shall term for the
purposes of this discussion the 'reflexive,' or 'audience aware' treatment of
exaggerated thriftiness...."
Judy R joined the room
Steve Archer
3:26 PM
LOL Brad
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:26 PM
hahaha is that the Journal
of American History article?
Judy R left the room (user
disconnected)
Laura Leff
3:26 PM
Are you copying from
the..oh heck...can't remember the author..
Brad from Georgia
3:26 PM
Imagine that in a drone,
and you've got an academic conference in miniature.
Laura Leff
3:26 PM
McFadden article
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:26 PM
yep, why I just love
academic conferences, haha
Brad from Georgia
3:27 PM
Just remembering sitting in
a hotel conference room with my eyes glazed over so much my ears started to
frost over, too.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:27 PM
I always cause a big stir
by just talking and not reading a paper. This last talk about what young Jack
learned from Frank Fay in vaudeville
Laura Leff
3:27 PM
Let's see if I can pull
something really dry from that article...I haven't been able to finish reading
it either...but that's because the author is also insane.
Brad from Georgia
3:27 PM
True, Laura.
Laura Leff
3:27 PM
Hey, I'd like to hear that
talk.
Brad from Georgia
3:28 PM
Part of it was the walk,
wasn't it, Kathy?
Laura Leff
3:28 PM
"America's Boy Friend
Who Can't Get a Date": Gender, Race, and the Cultural
Work of the Jack Benny Program,
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:28 PM
oh yeah, Margaret McFadden
has an article coming out in the same journal issue as my one about Benny and
Conn creating the Jack character in 32-34. Guess who's article will be better?
; )
Brad from Georgia
3:28 PM
Bob Hope took that from
Fay, too. But Hope cupped his hands. Jack said he looked like a maitre-d' who
was hinting for a tip.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:28 PM
her piece is about Eddie
Cantor this time
Laura Leff
3:29 PM
Oh no
WAY! She's still on about Jack?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:29 PM
great line, Brad!
no, she's moved on to
Cantor
Laura Leff
3:29 PM
Oh God
Brad from Georgia
3:29 PM
If she knew Eddie like I
know Eddie...
Laura Leff
3:29 PM
I can't imagine what she's
dreamt up about him.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:29 PM
thank the lord hahaha she
never actually published anything else after winning the big academic prize for
that article
Laura Leff
3:29 PM
An article on Cantor?
Brad from Georgia
3:30 PM
The article on Jack, I
think.
Laura Leff
3:30 PM
Oh please no
I know that Gary Giddins
won a big award for his article on Jack that's riddled with factual errors.
Brad from Georgia
3:30 PM
Which journal, Kathy? I had
a phone call and think that I missed some of this.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:30 PM
there's another academic
Scott Balczyerak (sp) who last year published a book claiming that Jack and
Rochester were gay, Eddie CAntor was gay, Hope and Crosby were gay, Abbott and
Costello, Laurel and Hardy,,,,,you get the drift. His new upcoming book is about
early TV comedians, so Martin adn Lewis will be gay...
Marc Thorner
3:31 PM
the hell?!?!
Laura Leff
3:31 PM
Oh that's McFadden's
assertion too.
R. Hookie
3:31 PM
Rowen and Martin, too?
Marc Thorner
3:31 PM
who are these so called
experts?!?!
Brad from Georgia
3:31 PM
Well, we KNOW Bert and
Ernie are gay. But then they don't have anything below the waist but elbows, so
that's all right.
Laura Leff
3:31 PM
Cheech and Chong?
Brad from Georgia
3:31 PM
Gay.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:31 PM
good old Margaret McFadden
and I will be in a little journal called Studies in American Humor. I will post
my article when it comes out closer to Fall. I at least get my facts right : )
R. Hookie
3:31 PM
Gilligan and Skipper?
Brad from Georgia
3:31 PM
Please do! Love to see it.
Gay and gay.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:32 PM
Gomer and the Sargent
Brad from Georgia
3:32 PM
Gay.
R. Hookie
3:32 PM
Laverne and Shirley?
Steve Archer
3:32 PM
Paul Lynde and Agnes
Moorehead?
Brad from Georgia
3:32 PM
Oddly, though, the
consensus is that Liberace was just pretending.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:32 PM
oh and Laverne and Shirley,
exactly, lesbian
Laura Leff
3:32 PM
"My interpretation of
the messages and appeal of the Jack Benny show draws on the work of theorists of
mass culture, who had developed ways to analyze the relationships between mass
cultural texts and the social and political contexts in which they are
produced. The work of these theorists can help historians approach
popular texts as an important source of evidence about American culture."
Brad from Georgia
3:32 PM
No, Paul and Agnes were
straight and bi.
Steve Archer
3:33 PM
R. Hookie
3:33 PM
Well, we know Lenny and
Squiggy
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:33 PM
arrrggghh Laura, you're
killing me, haha
Laura Leff
3:33 PM
Stoopnagle and Budd?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:33 PM
Amos n Andy
Laura Leff
3:33 PM
Myrt and Marge?
Smith and Dale?
R. Hookie
3:34 PM
Lucy and Ethel
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:34 PM
Rin Tin Tin and Timmy
Steve Archer
3:34 PM
Sanford and Son?
Laura Leff
3:34 PM
Salisbury and Kubelsky?
R. Hookie
3:34 PM
No, Timmy had Lassie
Brad from Georgia
3:34 PM
Reminds me of when my wife
and I went to see "Avenue Q" on Broadway. My puppeteer daughter was
amazed we liked it. Why? "Well," she said, "it's, you know, kind
of raunchy for you guys. I mean it has puppet sex onstage." I said,
"Oh, we weren't bothered. It was only SIMULATED puppet sex, not REAL puppet
sex."
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:34 PM
exactly, these
"scholars" suggest that any time two people stand together, our
subconscious brain puts them into a sexual relationship
gumby and pokey
Lassie and Rin Tin Tin
Steve Archer
3:36 PM
Says so much more about the
"scholar" than the subject...such a trend in lit crit and social
theory. If I wanted to know about YOU, I'd be your psychotherapist!
Laura Leff
3:36 PM
Scarlett and Mammy?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:36 PM
I want to root for
stars/celebrities who show no sexual desire at all. Jack's character is
oftentimes much more like that.
that's a new book, Laura,
published recently I think
Brad from Georgia
3:36 PM
My gosh, Kathy, are there
still all those papers out about "privilege" and
"empowerment"?
Laura Leff
3:36 PM
Hayley Mills and Hayley
Mills?
Brad from Georgia
3:36 PM
Gay and Yag.
Laura Leff
3:36 PM
Kathy - What, Scarlett and
Mammy?
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:37 PM
more than ever, Brad! come
join us, the Society for Cinema and Media Studies will be at the Hilton in
downtown Atlanta early next April! I will be there to give a non-crazy paper,
just don't know what it is yet, haha
yeah, some new book about
Mammy's backstory, gives her a name like "Ruth" and some
adventures.....
Laura Leff
3:38 PM
*Face in
hands* I can't believe that people are still going for the Jack and
Rochester thing. That's just...crazy talk.
Brad from Georgia
3:38 PM
Shoot, yeah! I'll be
there--it's a thirty-minute drive. We've moved to Snellville, just east of Stone
Mountain.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:38 PM
I lived in Stone Mountain
village, miss my old farmhouse.
Brad from Georgia
3:39 PM
It was a cold, rainy day in
Atlanta. Ruth Mammy, Private Eye, waited in her office for a client to walk
in....
Laura Leff
3:39 PM
Kathy - Fan fic. Often
good for amusement.
Brad from Georgia
3:39 PM
Stone Mountain Village is
charming.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:39 PM
the radio historians at
this conference are actually the most sane people at this conference. Hooray!
Laura Leff
3:39 PM
"Gee, Miss
Scahlett..youse look awful pretty in that dress..."
Kathy - Who else will be
there?
Steve Archer
3:39 PM
Belles gone Wild
Brad from Georgia
3:39 PM
"Thanks, Mammy, but I
got a guy I need tailed..."
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:39 PM
Stone Mountain was also
filled with gun shots, I couldn't go out in my own backyard, even during the
middle of the day, sigh
Laura Leff
3:40 PM
Steve - LOL
Stone Mountain...Juarez,
Mexico. Same thing.
R. Hookie
3:40 PM
I like the Carol Burnett
version
Brad from Georgia
3:40 PM
The only time it bothers us
(five miles away) is during the laser shows. Our dog hates the sound of
fireworks.
I'm still teaching
part-time for UNG. I'll see if I can get educator's rates...
Laura Leff
3:41 PM
"A useful starting
point for historians is Fredric Jameson's theory that mass cultural texts
perform the ideological work of legitimtating the social status quo (or some new
order) by representing social and political tensions and anxieties..."
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:42 PM
Oh gee Laura, probably
Michele HIlmes, whose book Radio Voices is the best academic thing out there.
She has just retired from U Wisconsin. Other friends of mine who do great stuff
on the history of ad agencies who actually ran radio and TV (Cynthia Meyers,
whose book And Now for a Word from our Sponsor is also terrific). Young guy
working on Norman Corwin. Another great woman who works on comedy radio daytime
programs for female audiences
Laura Leff
3:42 PM
Oh hey, I should connect
your person on ad agencies to my writing partner, Marty. He's a
walking encyclopedia on advertising.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:42 PM
eeeeek, I need a silver
stake to put through the heart of F Jameson!
Marc Thorner
3:42 PM
a book on Norman Corwin?!?!
I'd buy that!!
Laura Leff
3:43 PM
Seems like a lot of people
have tried to do stuff on Corwin, but I don't think I've seen anything come to
fruition.
Brad from Georgia
3:43 PM
I would too. But Miss
Barbara just called down to say that dinner is ready, so I
will bid yall a fond
farewell.
R. Hookie
3:43 PM
Good night Brad!
Laura Leff
3:43 PM
OK, this has been a good
chat again. Thank you folks!
Steve Archer
3:43 PM
Bye Brad!
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:43 PM
I'll post a couple of good
academic radio books to the facebook page sometime soon
Laura Leff
3:43 PM
Should we call it good for
this month, or do you want to keep going?
Brad from Georgia left the
room (user disconnected)
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:44 PM
sure thing, Brad, let's get
together!
Steve Archer
3:44 PM
Is the plan to keep the
chat at this time or is this an experiment for a while?
Laura Leff
3:44 PM
OK folks...thanks again for
stopping and making this a really good and fun discussion.
Marc Thorner left the room
(user disconnected)
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:45 PM
well Laura, I still have
three weeks of classes to teach (sigh). But in my comedy course we are looking
at internet humor. I will make a Jack Benny meme to show the class
Laura Leff
3:45 PM
Steve - I'm open to
input. I keep thinking about doing a poll on it, but haven't done
it yet.
We've had a number of
really good chats at this time, so I'm inclined to keep it here, but am open to
input.
Steve Archer
3:45 PM
I actually prefer the later
time, but want to do what's best for the group.
R. Hookie
3:45 PM
Alternate times month to
month
Laura Leff
3:45 PM
Then no one will know when
to show up.
Steve Archer
3:46 PM
Exactly!
R. Hookie
3:46 PM
Didn't think of that...
Bad idea
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:46 PM
hi Laura, sure I am still
here
Laura Leff
3:46 PM
Oh man, I don't even want
to think of fielding the E-mail complaints on that one...
Steve Archer
3:46 PM
Just on the west coast it's
kind of in the middle of the day and hard to make if you've got anything going
on.
Kathy Fuller-Seeley
3:46 PM
then like Jack we could do
a second broadcast, Laura has nothing else to do : )
Steve Archer
3:47 PM
But again, just a data
point of one here. If folks like this time I will do my best to make it.
Laura Leff
3:47 PM
Yeah, I understand since
I'm in the same time zone. On the flip side, I couldn't put
anything in the evening when it was later.
I should do that
poll. I keep thinking about it.
Well hey, good stuff
folks. Thanks again, and hope to see you next month!
Steve Archer
3:47 PM
Well, maybe keep this time
for a few months and then revisit the question?
What's the show for next
month!!??
Laura Leff
3:47 PM
I'm open to that.
I was going to take Brad's
request of one of the Allen send-ups.
Steve Archer
3:48 PM
Super, that sounds great.
Laura Leff
3:48 PM
OK, have a good month,
folks!
R. Hookie
3:48 PM
OK, later folks!
Steve Archer
3:48 PM
Night all